Chapter 195 Business is Booming

"Yes, yes! Hurry up and give me five yuan!"

A plump auntie immediately called out.

"There are three people in my family, and two yuan each will last us a while!"

"I want six yuan too. I have two kids at home, so I need to save some for them!"

Kang Liangwen worked quickly and efficiently, rapidly counting the soaps while collecting money and keeping accounts.

He was overjoyed.

This is real sales volume, saving us the trouble of advertising.

Guo Zhenyi stood aside, watching the scene unfold before him, and secretly admired it.

He turned and walked to the stationery section.

He stared at the boxes of colored pencils, his gaze slightly dazed.

When he was a child, a pencil could make him happy all day.

"The stationery is so complete and so useful."

He said softly.

Zhou Shufen walked over, followed his gaze, and nodded gently.

"Yes, life is getting better every day, and our business needs to change accordingly. The old ways won't work; we need to think about what the kids like."

"I'm planning to stock up on some colored crayons, drawing books, and a few simple drawing tutorials. Kids love to draw these days, and schools encourage it, so they're sure to be in high demand. I've also heard that there's a factory in the east of the city that can supply them, and the prices aren't too high."

After listening, Guo Zhenyi turned to look at her.

"Great idea, I support it. Your thinking is much better than mine back then."

Before he could finish speaking, Kang Liangwen rushed in through the door.

"Boss Zhou! Boss Zhou!"

"A wholesaler from the next town sent over an order form and said they'd be coming to pick up the goods first thing tomorrow morning. You should check if we have enough stock here. Don't delay delivery and upset them."

Zhou Shufen took the paper from Kang Liangwen and glanced at it carefully.

"Don't rush. Go to the warehouse now and check the inventory. Carefully check every item to see what's missing and how much is lacking, and write it down. Don't miss anything or make any mistakes. I'll have Dekang and the others transfer a batch of goods from the back warehouse right away, and try to make up the difference tonight. The goods will definitely be delivered on time tomorrow, not a single ounce will be missing."

Hearing this, Kang Liangwen felt much more at ease.

"Alright, Mr. Zhou! I'll be right there!"

He responded and turned to walk towards the warehouse.

Having only been at the store for half a month, Kang Liangwen could already tell that the business was booming.

Customers come and go every day, and the turnover from retail sales alone is astonishing.

But the more money he made, the more he felt something was wrong.

He looked at Zhou Shufen's purchase order several times, but he still couldn't find the "freight" item.

Regardless of where the goods are sourced, the invoices only list the cost of the goods, leaving no extra expenses.

He was puzzled, but dared not ask.

The warehouse was piled high with goods, stretching from the floor to the roof.

Kang Liangwen carried the ledger and held a pencil in one hand, checking each item on the shelf one by one.

"Soap, 120 left, 80 ordered today... Hmm, that's enough."

Before long, a clear and concise list of out-of-stock items was prepared.

He closed the ledger, held the densely written paper, and strode back to the front hall.

Upon hearing footsteps, Zhou Shufen immediately looked up and met Kang Liangwen's gaze.

"All cleaned up?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhou."

Kang Liangwen quickly handed over the form.

"We're short ten tubes of toothpaste, twenty towels, and five yuan for soap. Everything else is enough, no problem."

Zhou Shufen took the order and quickly glanced at it.

"Okay, I got it. I'll go to Yang Qingshan's place later and pick up these items for you on the way. Don't worry, tomorrow morning, none of the merchants who come to pick up their goods will leave empty-handed. I'll make up for any missing items."

She paused, then added.

"The factory will be shipping out a new batch of goods soon, and in a couple of days, the inventory pressure will be even lower."

After she finished speaking, she walked briskly toward the door.

Kang Liangwen stood there, feeling a surge of admiration in his heart.

This Mr. Zhou is decisive and efficient in his work, never dragging his feet.

In less than an hour, all the out-of-stock items were delivered.

At this moment, Old Zhou, the warehouse manager of the factory, personally drove a large flatbed cart over.

"Boss Zhou, you placed this order urgently, so the factory specially approved extra night shifts. This batch of laundry detergent is the most sought-after; several towns are urging us to buy it, and it's selling like hotcakes. Since you need a lot, we've prioritized reserving the best stock for you."

The laundry detergent piled up like a small mountain at the entrance hadn't been moved into the warehouse yet.

Seeing this, Kang Liangwen quickly called over Xiao Wu, the helper.

The two rolled up their sleeves, each carrying a bag, and huffed and puffed as they carried the bags towards the warehouse.

"Laundry detergent is so popular!"

The young man, Xiao Wu, said.

"We just restocked the day before yesterday, and it filled three sacks. How come it's only been a few days and there's already such a small mountain of stock? Our warehouse is almost full!"

Kang Liangwen took the bag from him, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and nodded.

"Absolutely! This is laundry detergent produced in Boss Zhou's own factory. The formula is sophisticated, it produces lots of foam, has strong cleaning power, and can even clean oil stains. The key is that it's not expensive. The aunties and grandmas in the neighborhood have been spreading the word, and they come in baskets to buy it. Even the vendors from the next street have heard about it and are coming to buy it in bulk. No wonder it's selling like hotcakes!"

As they were talking, several men wearing short-sleeved shirts and carrying canvas bags pushed open the door and entered the store.

As soon as they entered, their eyes were fixed on the pile of laundry detergent by the door.

"Brother Kang! Is Brother Kang there?"

One of the men, with a full beard and a loud voice, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Give me fifty bags of laundry detergent! The last batch I bought sold out in less than three days after I put it on the shelves! The neighbors are all scrambling to buy it and asking me where I got it from. They all say this laundry detergent smells great and cleans well, and the clothes smell especially fresh after being dried in the sun!"

Upon hearing the sound, Kang Liangwen quickly went to greet him.

"Brother Zhou is here? Don't worry, I'll get it installed for you right away!"

He deftly moved out empty boxes and counted and loaded the goods one bag at a time.

"It's great that you're selling so fast! Boss Zhou said we won't treat our loyal customers unfairly. We'll give you an extra 50 cents off each bag from now on, as a friendly price. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Brother Zhou's eyes immediately lit up.

"Is this really true? That's wonderful! I've heard that Boss Zhou is honest, but I didn't expect him to be so loyal! Okay, from now on I'll get all my goods from you, I won't go anywhere else!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several vendors who had been observing couldn't sit still any longer and crowded forward.

The small shop instantly became lively.

As Kang Liangwen registered the orders, he smiled and dealt with the situation, but in his heart, he was truly impressed by Zhou Shufen.

As it was getting dark, Zhou Shufen returned from Yang Qingshan's place.

As soon as she entered the door, she went straight to Kang Liangwen without even taking a breath.

"Are all the goods ready? Have you notified the wholesalers? Don't let anything go wrong, we need to load the trucks at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

Kang Liangwen immediately put down the ledger in his hand.

"Everything is ready, Mr. Zhou, you can rest assured. Fifty boxes of laundry detergent are already stacked, plus twenty bags of loose goods, and the labels are all affixed. As soon as the store opens tomorrow morning, the delivery truck will come and take them away directly. We've sold dozens of bags of laundry detergent, and I see that the inventory is running low again. We need to quickly order another batch, otherwise we'll run out of stock next week."